I am an evil giraffe. Who no longer blogs about politics.

Via Drudge, this is a somewhat… surprising reaction to local Democrat Anthony Prowell’s attempts to run in the Democrat primary against Rep. Giffords:

Initially looking to run for office as a Democrat, Prowell has been subjected to the ire of local party officials and everyday citizens aghast that he would challenge Giffords, who has only cast one congressional vote since a near-fatal shooting in January.

The few local Democratic Party officials he has spoken with on the phone are “livid” and have “flat out said, ‘we already have a congresswoman and I will not support you in any means whatsoever’” before hanging up, Prowell said.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand the emotional reaction perfectly. Rep. Giffords was brutally attacked by a madman and almost killed; and both her constituents and her fellow party-members are very reasonably still rubbed raw. Which would suggest that Prowell’s attempt to beat Giffords in the primary would be pretty much doomed to failure, anyway. It’s not as if the man is a stealth Republican, given the way that the article relates that Prowell likes to babble about Boehner’s private jet tax breaks (and is thinking of running as a Green). And there is also – forgive me for pointing this out – the question of what happens if Rep. Giffords decides to either (worst-case scenario for the Democrats) not run for the House or (best-case scenario for the Democrats) run for the Senate next year. In either case, the Democrats are left without a candidate for the seat anyway. All in all, the response is just a bit vehement, no?

I don’t have an answer for this one, sorry. It just all seems a little bit off.

Sure, Ms. Giffords has brain damage, which is to be regretted. But we have the lovely Maxine and the delightful Debbie to exemplify the fact that this should be no barrier, whether the condition is acquired at birth or later, and that’s only on the XX side.

This Prowel guy is an idiot. Giffords is very much in the too good for this sinful Earth mode right now, which means it will be very hard indeed for a Republican challenger to run against her without seeming like an insensitive clod.

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Her (very, very) public vote earlier was almost certainly at least partly a pre-emptive move to weaken the one argument a challenger could reasonably bring forth (i.e., that she’s no longer capable of performing her job).

Don’t care if she can do her job or not. If I came that close to death, the last thing I’d want to do is spend the rest of my life in Washington, DC. She’s entitled to a Congressional pension, right? She should retire and focus on enjoying life.

Agreed. That was always the saddest thing to me about Byrd (among other examples). Really, you have no better place to spend the twilight years than in D. freaking C. with a lot of sycophants, hacks, and such? Really??